Arab World

TeleSur | – – “We call for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to all people in need,” said a U.N. spokesperson. An international aid convoy reached Daraya—a Syrian town under siege by government forces—in the middle of the night, delivering food supplies for the first time since 2012, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday. Trucks […]

Featured

World More violent in past Year, but Middle East drives Deterioration

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The 2016 Global Peace Index has been released, with the bad news that the world is slightly more violent this year than last. But much of the increase of violence happened in the greater Middle East, in Syria, Libya, Turkey, etc. If you subtracted the Middle […]

Egypt

Nile Valley Water Conflict: Can Egypt live with Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam?

contributors

By Dale Whittington | (The Conversation) | – – The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or GERD, under construction on the Blue Nile near the Ethiopian-Sudanese border, is now approximately 50% complete. Initial filling will start this year and will begin in earnest in 2017. The idea of a dam on the Nile in Ethiopia – […]

Authoritarianism

UN: Return Saudi-led Coalition to ‘List of Shame’ Secretary-General’s De-Listing Opens Door to Political Manipulation

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – The United Nations secretary-general should immediately return the Saudi-led coalition to his “list of shame” for violations against children in Yemen, Human Rights Watch and 19 other organizations said today in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On June 6, 2016, the secretary-general announced that he […]

Syria

Why doesn’t Syria’s biggest city have any Windows?

contributors

AJ+ | – – “Five years of war has had a devastating effect on the Syrian city of Aleppo. With the constant threat of shelling and the soaring price of glass, people are now using plastic to cover up their windows.” AJ+ “Aleppo, Syria: A Windowless City”

Featured

Clash Looming? Russia-backed Syrian Army heading for ISIL’s al-Raqqa in race with US-backed Kurds

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Syrian Arab Army is advancing toward al-Raqqa city, the capital of the phony ISIS “caliphate,” with Russian air support. US Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Christopher Garver confirmed on Wednesday that the US has seen the movement of the troops of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad “to […]

Bashar al-Assad

Stymied by Syrian regime Sieges, UN planning Food Airdrops to 600K Civilians

contributors

By Lyndal Rowlands | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The UN has begun plans to deliver aid to besieged Syrian towns by air but says there are a number of obstacles in the way and that delivery by land remains its preferred choice. The UN had promised to plan the […]

Featured

Syrian Gov’t Troops enter ISIL-held al-Raqqa Province, racing against US Allies

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Syrian troops, aided by a Homs-based pro-government militia the ‘Falcons of the Desert’ and under the cover of Russian air support, entered al-Raqqa Province from Hama for the first time in two years on Saturday. The southern half of al-Raqqa province is one of two major […]

Free Syrian Army

Not the Onion: US asks Russia not to Bomb al-Qaeda in Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Russian foreign minister said his Washington counterpart asked Moscow not to target the extremist groups out of fear of hitting moderate rebels. The United States has asked Russia not to target al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria the Nusra Front arguing that airstrikes by Moscow could also hit other rebel groups, Russian […]